Looking back to 2018 to welcome 2019 Combolt to sail with you hand in hand!

The year 2018 is over. At the time of New Year's Day and New Year's Day, the relevant data of molybdenum and tungsten market in 2018 are sorted out and summarized for reference.

Annual average price of molybdenum products in 2018: 45-50% molybdenum concentrate 1733.38 yuan/tonnage, up 41.9% year on year; 60% ferromolybdenum 120,000 yuan per ton, up 39.7% year on year; Ammonium tetramolymolybdate 1.208 million yuan per ton, up 39.65% year on year; Ammonium dimolybdate was 129,900 yuan/ton, up 40.62% year on year. The first grade molybdenum powder was 242.9 million yuan per ton, up 36.38% from the same period last year. International molybdenum oxide $11.93 per pound, up 45.49% year on year;  Ferromybdenum in Europe is 28.99 US dollars per kilogram, up 45.24% year on year.

Annual average price of tungsten products in 2018: 65% wolframite concentrate is 106.3 million yuan per ton, up 17.72% year on year. Ammonium paratungstate (APT) was 168.3 million yuan per ton, up 21.52% year on year. W70 ferrotungsten 168,800 yuan per ton, up 20.57% year-on-year; 96% sodium tungstate was 129,900 yuan/ton, up 27.33% year on year. Medium-sized tungsten powder 265.87 yuan/kg, up 21.33% year on year; Medium particle tungsten carbide 263.65 yuan/kg, up 21.46% year on year.

Figure 1 Molybdenum concentrate: Promoted by the environmental protection situation in 2018, the price of molybdenum concentrate soared to 2,000 yuan/ton, reaching a high of 2,040 yuan/ton, the highest level since October 2011. Although the molybdenum concentrate continued to recover in November-December under the weakening demand, it remained at the level of 1700 yuan/ton at the end of the year, higher than the price of 1400-1500 yuan/ton at the beginning of the year, with an obvious increase in the year.

Figure 2 International molybdenum: The international molybdenum market performance in 2018 is not as good as that of China. The price of molybdenum is rising rapidly at the beginning of the year. The highest price of molybdenum oxide occurs in the first quarter of the year. The highest price of molybdenum oxide in the International Year is US$13.1/lb molybdenum, while that of ferromolybdenum in Europe is less than US$31.3/kg molybdenum, which is obviously higher than that in 2017.

Figure 3 FeMo: Promoted by the environmental protection situation in 2018, the price of ferromolybdenum soared to 140,000 yuan/ton, the highest price rising to more than 143,000 yuan/ton, which is the highest price since the fourth quarter of 2011, just like molybdenum concentrate. From November to December, the price of ferromolybdenum dropped rapidly from a high level to 110,000 yuan/ton at the end of the year, but it was still higher than the 108,000 yuan/ton price at the beginning of the year.

Figure 4  Molybdenum powder: In 2018, the price of molybdenum powder has increased dramatically, driven by the cost. The highest price has risen to 280,000 yuan/ton, which is nearly 50% higher than the low price of 155,000 yuan/ton in 2017. At the end of 2018, the price of molybdenum powder declined due to the restriction of demand and the decrease of raw material price, but the space for the decline was limited. At the end of the year, the price of molybdenum powder remained at a high level of more than 270,000 yuan per ton.

Fig. 5 Tungsten concentrate: In 2018, the tungsten concentrate Market failed to continue last year's booming trend. After January New Year's Day, the local replenishment demand release caused the price of tungsten concentrate to climb slightly to 115,000 yuan/ton. However, in the second half of the year, with the weakening of demand, the price of tungsten concentrate market began to fall. The lowest level was 955,000 yuan/ton on December 21, and failed to reach the 2018 high of 112,000 yuan/ton.

Fig. 6 Tungsten powder: In the first half of the year, the market demand for tungsten powder was booming. The output of downstream alloy and products enterprises increased substantially and the cost support increased to 284 yuan/kg. But in the second half of the year, the growth trend began to slow down. The demand of downstream consumer enterprises began to decline, and the supply-demand relationship became tense again. The price of tungsten powder fell back to 240 yuan at the end of the year.